Second Chances
by Tenku Greywords
Summary: (rated for first chapter suicide)Second chances are hard to come by; so when Dominique is reborn into a new world and given to some unikely caregivers it's a miracle! Can her new family raise her with a love she never knew and handle a child like her?UPDA
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: **_IMPORTANT_** This has not been edited yet, so don't bug me with annoying flames about how I have errors. I KNOW I do, alright? So if I get one of those annoying messages I'm going to laugh at it, alright? Now go and enjoy the story, please? puppy eyes

"Second Chances"

By Tenku Greywords

Chapter 1: Save Me

Part 1

Storming, it's always storming. A young girl of fourteen thought as she stared out the window in a sedated fashion. Dieing tracks of tears were being dried up or swallowed into her pores, just as the rain was being drawn into the ground. Her eyes were rimmed by red and bloodshot, and the room was dark save for a small lamp on the desk before her.

In a lazy fashion, she trailed a knife across the cross two inches from the crook of her arm, a tan scar set against pale skin. Other, smaller, and less visible scars littered the left arm of that blonde-haired young teenager sitting there in a daze.

Her eyes, once sparkling with life, were dead now, killed by sorrow in the wake of her family falling apart. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong, it seemed. And her grandmother's death had been the last thing before she broke, like a dam in a storm.

Her mother and other relatives that had come to comfort them after the wake were all drowning their sorrow down bellow, the stereo blaring out their wild cries as they took in glass after glass and can after can of beer in an endless cycle of intoxication.

The girl burly in figure and dawned in black, baggy clothes, let a few more salty tears fall, kissing the blade in her hands. A tiny drop of red blood rested at its tips, wavering on the edge as if it were going to fall.

Her heart constricted in emotional agony; she wanted to get through with it tonight. Dominique wanted all of it to just go away, to fade into nothingness and not be around to care anymore.

The knife slipped, and a red, angry line was made near her wrist, and crimson began to slip from it, coating the edge of the knife that was wedged into her tender flesh. But the pain seemed so unreal now, and all Dominique had to do was grit her teeth a little bit to hold in a shocked cry.

Her note, short and simple, lay on her desk, now flecked with a few droplets of blood, smeared by her shaking hands as she looked at the pile of pills she had emptied early from their cases. They looked, she supposed once more, like a little rainbow colored pile of happiness.

Carefully, so as not to ruin her note even more, Dominique took a pill and put it in her mouth, swallowing it without the aid of water. Then she slipped in another, and another, and yet another. The pills flew into her mouth so fast; she wondered where she got enough spit to swallow them all.

With a happy, deluded smile, she stared at the space where the pills used to be and picked up her knife. Her vision began to double up, and she felt so… light now. There wasn't even pain, she mused, when she slashed her other wrist twice, deeper than her mess up, and then re-slashed the other one, making two crosses on either arm. Finally, she retraced the cross farther up her arm, grinding her teeth as the knife bit into her flesh.

Then the knife slipped from her bloodied fingers and fell to the floor. But Dominique didn't care. Instead she leaned back in her comfortable office chair and focused her eyes on the ceiling, where earlier she had, by impulse, written some nonsense surrounded by the kanji of all the elements. It had been tedious, and difficult to write, but she had done it.

Now, as incoherent as a drunken man, she babbled those words through lips that were cracked and bleeding as the life began to leave her eyes in a new way, one that mean nothingness-death. For the briefest moment, she was scared, and then the sedatives she had swallowed gobbled that feeling up, putting her in a happy place again.

"_Wake me up from this self done sleep, and for my old body, do not weep. I am dead and in the sky, don't you see? I have died(1)_…" she murmured and then slowly let her eyes close and her hands fall limp at her sides.

_Save me…_was the last thing Dominique Porter thought as she was enveloped in blackness.

Part 2

White, it was all around and never-ending. _Odd_, Dominique thought when she opened her eyes, _I never expected death to be so empty_. She would have wondered if she actually had opened her eyes, but a quick look down told her she had; she found herself clothes in only a long blue tunic, and her hair was hanging down.

She was floating in the nothingness colored white, the only entity that seemed to be among the nothingness. It was so lonely and frightening; so much, that tears somehow managed to wet Dominique's cheeks. She wondered if she were dreaming, or perhaps having a nightmare. Had she been saved and was her body in the hospital? Was this an out-of-body experience?

"Ah, here you are." A soft, yet oddly authoritative voice spoke up, echoing in the nothingness. Dominique looked around madly, trying to find the person who had spoken, but no matter where she turned she found no one and nothing. She couldn't even find her own voice.

_This is stupid_! Dominique thought and managed to turn herself around only to bump into the smiling someone who spoke. She wanted to yell scream, rant and rave, but she found herself weak and overpowered by the white-haired old man before her. Her wore a purple tunic framed and intertwined with gold and silver. He had a strange walking stick in his hand; the wood was molded with silver and it seemed to chime with every movement.

"You are a very interesting little girl." He murmured, gently placing a hand on her head. Everything seemed to melt away then, and her eyes slowly closed until she stared at his chest, half-lidded. Any comments she wanted to make on how he was treating her like a little girl seemed to have disappeared. Something inside told her he was much, much older than she and had lived many lifetimes.

"Do you know that poem on your ceiling? It's written in elfish, and is a means for calling me. But you, little girl, are no elf." He said smiling. Dominique stared at him, confused. Her mind was whirling and buzzing all over the place; it made her want to scream and cry and laugh all at the same time.

The man chuckled and then continued, his blue-gray eyes dancing in amusement. Dominique had no idea why. Perhaps it was because he'd finally get a chance at mischief in about 100 years, or perhaps it was just a grandfatherly thing she'd seen her own grandfather do.

"The particular way you called me was rather interesting, when I found you your soul was just leaving your body. It was so beautiful and touching; you seemed so sad that I just plucked your soul and brought you here, to the place of which you will choose your new home."

It was as if something magical had been said, for with a giant _whoosh _doors came flying at them on each side. These doors ranged from tall ones to small ones, green ones to pink ones, oval doors and round doors, squares and triangles. There were so many doors of so many different types, shapes, and colors that it made Dominique's head spin and throb more. She had no time to grasp the fact that she was **dead**.

"I know you have so many questions for me, little one, but my time with you grows short. So I will explain quickly. These doors lead to other dimensions, other realms of which you can start anew. But someday you will have to choose between that realm and this one." A door came foreword. It was a modest door with vines growing around it. It was 'homely' to say the least of it.

Dominique reached forward to touch it, but as suddenly as he door appeared before her, it disappeared into the fray of moving doors that always seemed to be shifting, like a gigantic school of fish swimming in an ocean that seemed to small to hold them all.

"Just choose." The ancient man whispered in Dominique's ear, eyes full of a childlike youth and wonder as she pondered which door the youth would choose.

He could read her like a book, and she was so very confused. It was interesting, this little human, he thought. She was so complex and yet so charming at the same time. Whichever realm she chose, he silently hoped it would be a good one. He may have been the keeper of the realms, but he wasn't unnecessarily cruel.

Dominique wanted to reach up and rub her temples to ease the throbbing between her ears. She wanted it all to end; she didn't care where she ended up. She wanted release; that was all, nothing more. Why couldn't this man understand her?

Hen, out of the blue, a particular door caught her eye. It was an odd door to say the least of it, and it looked to be a sewer cover. Without really knowing what she was doing she managed to lift her arm and point to it. Immediately the roar of the doors died and the chosen door came forward expectantly and obediently under the man's magical persuasion. The door seemed to have a life of its own, and almost seemed nervous at having been picked out the fray. It might have been a novice.

Secretly the man smiled at the door, perfectly content with the choosing. The human child beside him would find a wonderful home in that realm, he decided. Then, turning back to the child, Dominique he supposed was her name, he uttered;

"Sleep, little child of so much sorrow." Dominique opened her mouth to utter something, but a white light enveloped her, causing her to shrink back and her eyes to close, her large eyelashes delicately kissing her cheeks as if they were butterflies.

The man smiled and gently picked the girl up into his arms as a blue light enveloped him. He lifted her up where she floated above him like a sleeping angel. Lowly, he poured the blue power over her.

Dominique, before the man's eyes, which were neither old nor young, began to shrink and regress in years. He molded her body with him power, until she was but a baby whose blonde hair fell to a little bellow her ears. But he was not done, gently, he formed additions on her small, naked body as a potter might do to one of his great pottery masterpieces. Slowly, he grew her a foxy tail and ears and molded Dominique's hair until streaks of blue highlighted it. He replaced Dominique's old set of ears with the fluffy fox ears and places the tail gently on her seat. Finally, the blue power sharpened her canines into small fangs that would tear into her food most easily.

Smiling, the man gently fitted the small child with clothes and wrapped a purple and silver blanket around her frame, even as his power set her back in his arms. Dominique did not wake or move, even as the man gently uncapped her tiny fist and places a silver cross with a blood red ruby in the middle in her hand.

"Now, off you go, little one who knew only sorrow." He murmured quietly, and then gently opened the door to reveal a dirty sewer. He searched the place until he found a clean rise free of garbage. There, with a small note attached to the blanket he left her. Smiling, he pulled away and closed the door, leaving Dominique in the world of her own choosing.

TBC

A.N. Well, what do you guys think? Interesting? Please send feedback!

1. This is actually said in elfish, alright?


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Proclamation: Lol, I have two reviews! That makes me so happy! I'd like to take this time to thank those two special people!

Angel362; My gratitude runs deep with you as you were my first reviewer! Thank you! huggles --You have Received the Tenku Greywords 'huggle'—

Wolfgirl4420; as my second reviewer, gratitude runs deep for you too! huggles --You have Received the Tenku Greywords 'huggle'—

"Second Chances"

-Chapter 2

You could call him the tranquil walker of the night, or maybe just some lunatic with a bad case of insomnia. Either way, depending on your perspective, he was out in Central Park in the dead of the night. His trench coat and hat helped him blend in, but gave him a more ominous appearance to any wandering eyes that might gaze upon him for a moment.

Despite what others thought of him, he wasn't this perfect leader who bowed down to him sensei's every order. In fact, he could get in trouble for being above ground if he wasn't careful. As it was, he knew he wouldn't be getting much sleep tonight; his performance during morning practice would definitely suffer a bit, even if he were careful about it.

But never mind those worries, he told himself, taking in a big breath of the night air. It was chilly out, too chilly for most people to be out, and so he knew he most likely had the park to himself tonight. Which was just fine with him. He couldn't stand the watching eyes of others. It was like they expected everything and more out of him, just because he was older. In his mind he was screaming, telling them to go shove it up there- well, you know…

Leonardo was abruptly brought out of his innermost thoughts (quite the scary place to be if you weren't intellectually gifted enough to handle it) and looked around. He could have sworn he heard a baby crying…

The hero side of him waging a war against common sense that told him to get back to the lair finally won after a few moments and he crept forth, training his hearing to that sound in hopes to find out what was going on. Why would a baby be in the park at this time at night?

Creeping, using ninja skills to the utmost perfection, he crept through the brush towards the sound, wary of any humans that might be out. He had to be agile and vigilant, totally aware of all of his surroundings. He treated this mission as if he were facing the shredder himself; with delicacy and cunning. He was a cat…err, turtle on a mission. 

The crying, it seemed, came from somewhere near the middle of the park. Leonardo managed to get there in a short time, and no humans had been spotted. Eyes narrowed as he looked for any signs of a trap, he neared the source of the crying, blades drawn, expecting it to be another attack from the Foot. For all he knew Shredder was watching him now, ready to push the detonator button on a ticking bomb of a crying, robot baby.

But when he finally came upon the preciously wrapped package all done up in fine cloth, his guard dropped and his suddenly nerveless fingers threatened to drop his weapons when be beheld the sight of the baby, who was definitely not human by any means. She looked at him with dark brown eyes that were deeper than the deepest hole, deeper than anything he'd seen before. And there were so sad and so wise, like she'd been through a lifetime of which he could never imagine. Never wanted to imagine.

Slowly, Leonardo sheathed his swords and the little fix child stopped crying, starring at him with that half-lidded look of hers. It wasn't judgmental; in fact, it wasn't anything that he could place. It just was.

Then, something caught his gaze; it was a note. He reached out, taking it from the nearly dilapidated park bench that seemed ready to collapse at any moment, unfolded it, and read it aloud, softly to himself;

_"To Whoever May Find This Child;_

_     Please take care of this kit, as I cannot. You will find a bag of things you'll need under the bench, as well as a more intricate list of instructions. Wherever you bring her, I will know, and every birthday you will find a special gift from me. Do not question it, just know that it is and accept it. You may call her what you wish, and please, show her love that has never been sown to her. All will be revealed._

_In Blessings May we part and meet,_

_Im mel ya_

_Ancient"_

Leonardo looked at the kit, which had never stopped gazing at him, a childish mix of fascination and love in her eyes. Leonardo quietly refolded the letter and placed in in his trench coat pocket. Not daring to breath, he looked under the bench. Sure enough there was a white bag there, that seemed overflowing with only god knew what. He let out a breath he hadn't know he'd been hold and took it, setting it beside the kit who looked on the verge of crying again. Instead, she only sneezed in a cute fashion.

He pinched himself, just to make sure he was awake, and then blinked his eyes a couple of times before sighing and letting a smile grace his face, softening it as he slid the white bag over his shoulder and then bent down to scoop up the kit. She was warm in his arms, and she seemed to fit right in. He looked into hr brown eyes and she looked right back into his. Then she yawned, twitching her ears a bit as she slowly let her eyes slip close, turning herself towards him for comfort in warmth, mewling softly; a sound that seemed so irresistibly cute Leonardo wondered if it was even possible.

Battling his instincts, Leonardo decided to make what was probably going to be the hardest decision in his life. To take the kit or not? He glimpsed down at her where a chubby hand reached up and pushed away a lock of her blonde and blue hair groggily, before she sighed and let it rest, snuggling into him. He gulped and then looked around, looking for someone who could have left her. Finding no one whatsoever, he went with his heart and turned, heading back to the lair.

TBC

Author's Note: I know this chapter was kind of short, I'm sorry! The next one will be longer!


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I apologize for not having updated in a long while. Please enjoy this chapter!

"Second Chances"

-Chapter 3

As Leonardo entered the lair, clutching the child protectively against his chest so she wouldn't catch a chill or wake, he half expected to get away with sneaking out topside to walk off his frustration and pent up emotion. However, as was always whenever one of them misbehaved, their sensei was always there afterward to reprimand them.

"You have finally come home, my son." The soft, yet stern voice of Leonardo's sensei voiced through the darkness of the living room.

It needn't have been light for Leonardo to know his sensei was sitting in the old armchair they had found a long while back at the junkyard, he felt it. Guilt settled over his shoulders and forced him to lower his eyes to the ground and submissively, obediently, lower himself to the ground before his teacher's feet, the small fox child in his arms nearly forgotten as he clutched her in his embrace and opened his mouth to speak.

"I am sorry to disappoint you sensei…" he uttered at last, choosing his words carefully as she struggled to keep up with his raging waterfall of emotions that threatened to collapse at any moment. He was about to elaborate, but a furry hand on his head stopped him and he fell silent.

"There is no need for you to explain yourself, I know well what troubles you, my son. I understand the responsibility you struggle with, and how your back is breaking under it's stress." The old rat murmured to his son softly, letting his hand fall from Leonardo's head to rest back within the comfort of his armchair. He was more than ready to dismiss his son, if not for the bundle that caught his eye.

"My son, what is it you have brought with you?" Splintered murmured quietly, eyes watching his son with interest. Suddenly, Leonardo's half frightened eyes met his old, withered, wise, and most kind gaze as a sudden realization of his precious cargo dawned on him.

"Sensei, I-" once again a furry hand cut him off and then both appendages dipped down and removed the precious bundle from Leonardo's clutches. The turtle held his breath as his master turned on a small light in order to inspect what he saw.

What Splinter beheld shocked and amazed him. At the moment she was taken away from the warm body that had been holding her and giving her a sense of protection, her brown eyes had snapped open and filled with tears, and now a soft mewling sound that was more of a whimper made it's way from her larynx.

The old rat had expected nothing of the like. His eyes, widened in shock, softened when he saw the child was not exactly the most ordinary thing in the world. She stared at him, with eyes that were deeper than his own, full of tears, an hiccupped- a warning that she was ready to cry once more.

"I found her on a park bench with a bag full of things and this note." Leonardo murmured, eyes straying to the baby without really knowing it as he handed over the note he had handled with as much care, as he was able.

"I see." The old rat uttered gently as he scanned the note, still half shocked by the little baby he was now holding. She was so intriguing, so sad, and it spurred the same fatherly feeling he had gotten when he beheld his future sons for the first time.

A louder whimpering noise drew Master Splinter from his inspection, and then he smiled down at the kit who seemed utterly distressed. Gently, he pushed a strand of her hair from her face, eliciting a soft mewl of contentment and a flick of her ears, which were surprising soft even against his hands.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know where else to bring her. I-" Leonardo fell silent when his sensei once again insisted on his silence.

"You did the right thing Leonardo, you followed your heart." Master Splinter murmured, a smile enticing his features upwards as the small child blinked sleep laden eyes. As she rest on his lap, nestled between the crook of his arm, he felt her tiny feet fidget and kick around before they fell restless and the small child once again fell into slumber, innocence passing over her face and settling a short while later as her body relaxed.

"Have you thought of a name, my son?" Splinter asked after a long moment is relaxed silence, turning his gaze from the babe resting peacefully in his arms, to his son who looked almost awestruck at the concept.

"A name?" he questioned aloud.

"Hai, we cannot go around calling her by 'girl', now can we, my son? Names are very important. Without names, the special balance between the spirit is broken, and soul is at unease." Splinter smiled, watching as confusion, and then a complete understanding flitted across Leonardo's face.

"But... how do I choose a name?" Leonardo questioned quietly, his brow furrowing in thought as he pondered over the situation at hand, letting his eyes travel to the sleeping face of the little kit, fast asleep from exhaustion in his sensei's arms.

"Think about what you know, what she is, and what you hope she will be." Splinter smiled, eyes flickering between amusement and pride at how serious his oldest son was. He would make a great father, Splinter mused, and he might just get that chance with the kit he, himself, now held tenderly in his arms. How strange, and here he'd given up hope of ever being a grandfather…

"Kistune…" Leonardo suddenly uttered, breaking the silence. Kistune, the Japanese word for fox. Leonardo looked up at his sensei, holding his breath, and praying his master wouldn't reject the name. Rejection from someone else, Leonardo could take, but from his master…well, that was a different story. It would most likely break his heart if his master rejected him now, on a matter like this. He couldn't explain the reason why it would do so….it just would.

"You have chosen well, my son." Master Splinter said at length, carefully turning the name over in his mind and fitting it in with the kit he held in his arms. It was fitting, beautiful, and in many ways, mysterious. It was a perfect name, for one such as she. Splinter watched as his son seemed to exhale, relaxing. It was as if he had been expecting a blow, and that concerned Splinter very much.

"My son?" Splinter questioned, waiting for Leonardo's eyes to meet his own.

"Yes, sensei?" Leonardo replied, sweeping his gaze from the floor to meet his sensei's.

"Know that no matter what you do, I will always love you." Leonardo was struck into a sense of awe and silence as his master gently laid the babe in his arms. She immediately curled into him, sighing softly as his familiar scent met her delicate nose.

"Go to sleep my son, I will wake you when you are needed. You have had a long night." Leonardo nodded silently, inclining his head forward in a bow, before he swiftly stood and tiredly, yet gracefully, moved to his room.

As the door closed behind him, a sense of exhaustion struck him full force, and nearly sent him reeling. He hadn't noticed he'd gotten this way, how tired he'd been, and how much sleep he had been loosing.

Quietly side-stepping around his laundry basket that he'd forgotten to pick up earlier, the blue clad ninja pulled back the covers of his bad with one hand, while cradling Kistune in the other. Tiredly, he slipped inside the warm cocoon of blankets, and then laid Kistune beside him. The little foxling was more than happy to curl up around him, and Leonardo was more than happy to except the affection.

TBC


End file.
